Dear Onno
(**I am posting this to the WSIS ASia Caucus list and the Communication
Rights Asia list, to appeal to anyone with direct contact with Onno to
forward this to him and contact him to respond immediately**)
You may or may have known that the successor to the UN ICT TAsk Force is
being organized, and a nomination process for a multi-stakeholder body of
about 50 people to comprise this GLOBAL ALLIANCE STRATEGY COUNCIL,
backstopped by UN DESA, is on.
Though the formal deadline for nominations to UN DESA is still later this
month, a civil society process has been established via the CS Plenary
list, and is being coordinated by CONGO. CS will submit the nominations
that comes out of this process by May 20, but all nominations must be
submitted to CONGO **TODAY**.
(It will make sense to also submit nominations directly to UN DESA but we
respect and are in support of the CS process, and would like to go through
this route primarily.)
All the information about the process is available on the CONGO website
<http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php?what=news&id=10220> .
For more detailed information about the proposed role and the structure of
the Global Alliance, visit the website of the UN ICT Task Force
<http://www.unicttaskforce.org/> or the CONGO Website
<http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php?what=pag&id=10210> .
OUr global association, ASsociation for Progressive Communications (APC)
is rushing to submit a multistakeholder list of nominees for consideration
of the CS Nomination Committee, and we would like your name on it, Onno.
Should you agree we need from you the following info so APC can send your
name at wsis@ngocongo.org NO LATER THAN TODAY 10 MAY 2006, 4:00
p.m. GMT / 6:00 p.m. Geneva Time with the following information:
Name: DR. ONNO PURBO
CS Affiliation(s): ??
Country: INDONESIA
Gender: MALE
Age: ??
Biographical Statement:
(see below...you may want to add/replace)
Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:
(Also just to ensure that you agree to being up for nomination and know to
what...)
----------
If you agree to put your name up for nomination to be included in the APC
list, please contact Karen Banks (who is compiling the APC list) directly.
(She is copied on this message), by sending your completed info.
If we fail to make the CS deadline, we can still go through the UN DESA
process of course. And at the end of the day, nothing is ensured as the
final selection criteria and process at the UN is not as transparent as we
would want--it will be a "political" process of course...
ADvanced apologies, ONno and all for this very late message, but things
ewre rushed from the beginning and people are just trying their best under
tight circumstances :-)
thanks and i hope somehow this message gets to you and you are able to
respond in time
best
Al Alegre
=============
DR. ONNO PURBO
Background (FROM THE DIGITAL REVIEW OF ASIA PACIFIC)
Onno W. Purbo has withdrawn from the Indonesian civil service and retired
as a lecturer. He is a maverick driven by a simple vision of an
Indonesian knowledge-based society. Onno has been spending most of his
time writing thousands of articles and more than 30 books on Internet
technology, mostly in the Indonesian language, in an attempt to educate
Indonesians on IT. He has also introduced several alternative Internet
technologies, which have been adopted by Indonesian IT communities. The
technologies include WiFi-based Internet infrastructure and VoIP
MaverickNet. All of his articles are "copylefted" and can be freely
downloaded from http://www.bogor.net/idkf and
http://www.apjii.or.id/~voipmerdeka.
FROM ANOTHER SOURCE (IDRC):
$BE*CN(B producing knowledge producers who, it is hoped, will produce
knowledge producers themselves.”
Dr Onno Purbo has dedicated his life to promoting the dissemination of
knowledge through information and communication technologies (ICTs) in
Indonesia, both as a professor at Bandung$BCT(B Institute of Technology
Bandung (ITB) and as the author of nearly 1000 articles and close to 40
books. It$BCT(B all part of a large plan to empower people through ICTs, and
to foster a movement that will see information and know-how being shared
through the Internet throughout the geographically-fragmented nation.
Purbo$BCT(B enthusiasm, dedication, knowledge, and energy make him the perfect
candidate for the task of changing the way a nation shares information.
His method is twofold: communicate with people through public speaking,
articles, and books; and educate others to do the same.
Until five years ago, Purbo taught at ITB, striving to help his students
become analytical thinkers and writers who could help shape Indonesia$BCT(B
future. It is this desire to educate the public that led Purbo to resign
from ITB in 2000 to devote all his energy to promoting ICTs in Indonesia.
Usually, he travels to two or three cities a week to give seminars on the
feasibility of building infrastructure and to provide training. Most of
his written materials can be easily accessed on the Internet.